The entrance ceremony for Babel commenced.
Chloe Valentine, the current chief headmaster of Babel, delivered the opening declaration and introductory remarks.
According to the program, Vice Headmaster Rasputin Grahart was supposed to speak next. Midway through the proceedings, however, the master of ceremonies announced that Rasputin's address had been moved to the very end of the ceremony.
Judging by how Chloe leaned forward with a grim scowl, this had likely been decided on short notice without even informing the chief headmaster.
When the Babel faculty's speeches—far more tedious than anticipated—finally drew to a close, the address on behalf of the student body was entrusted to Lancelot Grahart, the head mage of the Tower. Given their shared surname, there was no doubt he was related to Rasputin.
Stepping up to the podium, Lancelot clasped his hands behind his back.
"Strive with all your might," he declared. "That is the sole path to fulfilling your desires."
His voice was by no means loud. Yet it echoed through every corner of the hall, causing the air to snap taut with tension.
Oho. Quite dignified for someone so young. I was a swordsman, and to be frank, I never truly understood the strength or competence of mages. Determining just how powerful Lancelot was would be impossible without actually facing him. Even so, his bearing went far beyond what one would expect from a mere teenager. If Okame had someone like that among his peers, it was only natural he would harbor an inferiority complex.
As Lancelot stepped down from the stage, thunderous applause erupted.
Amid the ovation, Rasputin Grahart took the podium.
I had assumed he would be a petty philistine like the former vice headmaster, but in reality, he was a slender, tall, handsome man clad in navy-blue robes.
"Everyone, congratulations on your enrollment. Now then, unlike all of you, I am a busy man. Allow me to get straight to the point regarding our decisions. Designated students from each academy will attend classes three days a week in a specialized class established within Babel. The purpose is to foster interaction among the students. That is all!"
Having delivered his unilateral declaration with complete indifference, he stepped off the stage and walked straight out of the hall.
Chloe's aide, Sigma, sprang from his seat in sheer astonishment, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly; it was clearly the first he had heard of it. The same went for everyone else in the hall, including the vice headmaster faction, plunging the venue into a buzzing uproar reminiscent of a cage packed with countless insects.
What followed was a fierce, pointless struggle between the Headmaster Faction and the vice headmaster faction over the selection process for the specialized class and the quota allotted to each academy.
In the end, a compromise was reached.
Specifically, the selection criteria for each academy would be determined by Babel's executive board, as proposed by the vice headmaster faction. The quota would be a flat three students per academy, and class placement would be decided by lottery. Naturally, this randomized grouping—completely divorced from academic merit—was the approach insisted upon by the Headmaster Faction.
Of course, I had scored the absolute lowest marks on the entrance exam. After all, I had received a flat zero on the practical exam. Even within Ouboro Academy, plenty of students had performed better than I had. Naturally, I had already instructed Chloe never to show me any unnecessary favoritism. It seemed unthinkable that the vice headmaster faction would bother recommending an eyesore like me for an elite class anyway. The entire debate was practically irrelevant to me.
Thanks to Rasputin's sudden bout of madness, Babel's entrance ceremony dissolved into complete chaos and adjourned early. In the aftermath, the individual academy ceremonies scheduled for later that day were postponed by a week.
With the general entrance ceremony finished, I was currently walking toward our quarters.
Initially, Lumine had planned to walk back with Laila, but Laila received an urgent summons from Babel's headquarters. As a result, Laila asked me to step in and escort Lumine back to her lodgings.
Well, Laila knew Lumine had been attacked during the entrance exam. Leaving her to walk alone must have made her sick with worry. From Laila's perspective, I was supposed to still be weak, yet she had entrusted me with the task. I suppose to her, I hadn't changed at all—I was still the same Kai from our childhood who used to act as an older brother to Lumine.
"Don't pout like that. You only have to put up with me until we reach your dorm."
When I offered those words to placate her, smiling wryly as she kept her head turned away, Lumine bared her teeth at me in a fierce scowl.
"I'm not pouting!"
"No matter how you look at it, you're practically dripping with discontent."
"I told you that's not it!"
Seeing Lumine finally lose her temper and stomp her feet, I gave in.
"All right, all right."
Finding it too troublesome to argue, I waved my hand dismissively and kept walking.
"Hey..."
Lumine called out hesitantly.
"What is it?"
When I turned to look at her, our eyes met.
"Never mind."
She frantically averted her gaze and mumbled under her breath. Honestly, Lumine was acting even stranger than usual today.
"If you say so."
As we walked along, something grabbed my left hand.
"Hm?"
"..."
Looking down at Lumine, I saw her blushing furiously with her head lowered, clinging tightly to my hand.
The street we were walking down was relatively deserted—the kind of quiet path that could easily make a child feel uneasy. For all her tough posturing, Lumine was ultimately still the same timid, clingy girl she had always been.
Letting out a quiet sigh, I took her hand firmly in mine and walked on.
Once we reached the front of the dormitory, Lumine let go of my hand.
"Thanks."
Muttering that single word, she dashed into the building as though fleeing from me.
"Perhaps the only one who has truly changed... is me."
Tinged with an indescribable melancholy, I turned and started on my way home.